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INDUSTRY AND TRADE
The corporation's paid up capital of $20 million was provided by the government, which also guarantees the corporation's liabilities created by its insurance and guarantee opera- tions up to a statutory limit of $2,000 million. The corporation does not receive any sub- vention and operates on a break-even basis, taking one year's result with another. In its daily business activities, the corporation resembles private enterprise and it markets its services in a commercial manner.
The corporation receives guidance from its 12-member advisory board, which consists of three senior government officials and nine prominent figures from the private sector.
Since 1967, the corporation has protected the export of goods and services valued at more than $16 billion, and paid hundreds of claims cumulatively exceeding $41 million. During the 1978–9 financial year, the corporation insured export shipments valued at $2.5 billion. The premium received amounted to $12 million, and $4.5 million in claims were paid and provided for during this period.
The ECIC looks after the interests of more than 1,000 exporters as its clients. It publishes a detailed annual report of its operating results, which is available to its customers and other interested parties in Hong Kong and abroad.
Hong Kong Productivity Council and Centre
The Hong Kong Productivity Council, a statutory organisation established in 1967, is responsible for promoting the increased productivity of industry in Hong Kong. The council comprises a chairman and 20 members, all appointed by the Governor. It is financed by an annual government subvention and by fees earned from services.
The executive arm of the council is the Hong Kong Productivity Centre which provides technical help and information, industrial consultancy, computer services, economic analyses, and technology transfer services to clients in industry. It also conducts a wide range of training programmes in industrial technology, management techniques and electronic data processing.
The centre's facilities include eight lecture rooms, a low cost automation unit, an industrial chemistry laboratory, an electronics laboratory, a technical reference library and electronic data processing equipment. A heat treatment unit was set up in 1979 with technical assist- ance from the United Nations Development Programme. The unit is organising seminars and courses on the technology of heat treatment with practical demonstrations; and pro- viding technical help, consultancy and information services to industry.
During the year, the productivity centre strengthened its technical information activities. In addition to publishing two quarterly bilingual bulletins on plastics and furniture tech- nology, it introduced an on-line information retrieval service to local industry. A portable computer terminal in the centre's office is connected to the mainframe computer systems of the Systems Development Corporation and Lockheed in the United States. The latest technical information on reports, patents and research results can be made available to a Hong Kong user within seconds.
Acting as an agent for one of the international technology transfer organisations, the centre also disseminated information about technology transfer opportunities through a quarterly publication.
Sustained efforts were made during the year to assist the furniture industry to improve its productivity. A preliminary report on communal facilities for the preparation of furniture materials was completed and, as part of an integrated project, the centre recommended the establishment of a particleboard plant to optimise the use of wood and rattan waste.